South Africa vs New Zealand 1st ODI is going to be one cracker of a game as everyone now knows that the two teams are very equal in terms of bowling and batting. New Zealand came to South African tour after a long time, they lost the first game. They made a glorious comeback in the second game and were able to draw the T20 series. Now the all important ODI series is about to begin from August 19th. The two teams are going to play 3 ODI matches between them.

First ODI of the series is going to be played at Centurion, the pitch there is known as the paradise for batsmen. Bowlers have nothing for them here. Most of the ODI matches that were played in this ground were high scoring ones. It is really easy to bat there, and it does not matter if the team is batting first or second. If the batsmen can get settled in first, then they can easily score half centuries there. The way both teams’ middle order batsmen are batting really well, it is very much possible that more than 600 runs will be scored in the first ODI. Martin Guptill is probably jumping with joy seeing the pitch there; he is definitely looking to score another century. The New Zealand opener was the reason that his team was able to draw the series; otherwise South Africa may have won the T20 series by 2-0.

New Zealand is hoping that Guptill’s good form will be continued in the ODI series too. New Zealand wants to make their ICC ODI ranking better by winning the series against South African; ironically the host team also has the same intention in this series. Both the teams want to win the South Africa vs New Zealand 1st ODI so they can go ahead in the series. The critics are saying that both the teams have equal chances to win the series. New Zealand captain Kevin Williamson said that he thinks none of the teams can be called favorites and anyone can win the series. He said even though he was worried after losing the first game of the tour, he is now happy that his team was able to bounce back really well. He is however worried about his bowling line up and wants his bowlers to be more careful about their line and length.

South Africa has a new captain for the ODI series. AB De Villiers is called back in the team and he is the temporary captain for South Africa ODI side. He is really disappointed the way his team played in the last T20 game, according to him New Zealand deserved to win the match as they were without doubt the better team. He said they dominated the game for more than 40 over and his team probably cannot expect to win the match after playing so poorly from the start. He wants his team mates to step up their game; otherwise he thinks New Zealand will win the ODI series very comfortably.

Both the teams are taking South Africa vs New Zealand 1st ODI very seriously. The first practice session is from Monday. Some of the players in both the teams are playing non stop since the World Cup, so the fatigue factor is there. But team managements are hoping everything will be all right. There is no chance of rain and the first game tickets are almost sold out. Even though T20 is getting popular nowadays, according to many great players ODI matches are still the best form of entertainment as far as cricket is concerned.